Self-tanning products (also commonly called self-tanners, sunless tanners or bronzers) have been commercially available for many years, and recent developments have made it possible to obtain an artificial coloration almost identical to what would be obtained by natural sun exposure. This is especially true for new products such as Olay® Radiance Reviver, which comprises relatively low level of self-tanning agents (usually a mixture of dehydroxyacetone (DHA) and erythrulose), and which are applied repeatedly for gradually building a tan.
However, inferior products have given a bad reputation to the category and many consumers still associate self-tanning products with an unnatural orange color. Contrary to hair dye products, the packaging of self-tanning products normally does not show a picture of the expected results. Rather, the packaging usually has an indication of the strength of the product (for example “light”, “dark”). It can therefore be difficult for a prospective user to visualize in advance the potential appearance of his/her skin if he/she was to try the cosmetic product.
There is therefore a need for a system capable of displaying to a prospective user the potential change of appearance of his/her skin that would result from the application of a skin-coloring cosmetics, especially a self-tanning product.
In response to this need, the inventor has found that the image of an area of skin reflected by a tinted mirror can match surprisingly well the appearance of that area on which a skin-coloring product, especially a self-tanning product, is subsequently applied. Using a tinted mirror was found to be a cheap, quick and intuitive way to predict and display a change of skin coloration using a self-tanning product. It is believed that a treated mirror may also be used to reflect a potential change of skin appearance for other skin-coloring products, such as tinted moisturizers, colored powders, foundations, etc. . . .
U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,387, “Mirror for checking dyed hair color”, discloses a mirror comprising a colored filter formed on part of the whole of the surface of the mirror. The colored filter is formed such that the color of the reflected image of hair from the colored filter is substantially the same as the dyed hair color for when the hair has been dyed with a particular hair dye. GB2,000,021A, “Method and Kit for Hair Colouring”, discloses a method and kit for hair colouring using a coloured filter and a mirror. There is no indication in any of these documents that colored mirrors can be used for applications other than the dyeing of hair, in particular there is no mention of skin care products.